The present invention relates generally to methods for determining the location of a mobile station in a cellular communication system and, more particularly, to a cellular telephone that is programmed to take some action based upon its arrival at a predetermined location.
It is a common practice for a person to place notes in their vehicle to remind them to perform certain tasks. For example, a person may place a note in their vehicle to remind them to pick up groceries on the way home from work. The method most frequently used is to write a note on a sticky note or loose piece of paper which is placed in a location in the vehicle so that it will be seen when the person enters the vehicle. For example, it is common to xe2x80x9cstickxe2x80x9d notes to an instrument panel or steering wheel, or place notes on loose pieces of paper in a vehicle seat. This method, however, is not foolproof. It is possible that the note will not remain in its original location. For example, a xe2x80x9cstickyxe2x80x9d note may detach from its original location and fall to the floorboard of a vehicle. Also, a note placed in a vehicle seat may be covered by other articles, or be blown when the door to the vehicle is opened. If the note does not remain in its original location, or if it is covered before it is seen by the user, it will not be effective.
It is also desirable in many cases for a person to periodically call the home or office while traveling to inform family members of their safe arrival, or to inform co-workers of their location for business reasons. However, a person may not always remember to call the home or office when arriving at the designated location. Also, the individual may be hurried when arriving at the predetermined location and not have sufficient time to call to report their arrival.
The present invention provides a mobile communication device, such as a cellular telephone, that displays or sends messages when it arrives at a predetermined destination. The phone may be used, for example, to store messages that the user wants to be displayed or sent to another party when the user arrives at predetermined locations. The phone includes a positioning receiver, such as a GPS receiver, and a target location memory. One or more predetermined target locations are stored in the target location memory. The phone periodically determines its current location based on a position signal received by the positioning receiver, and compares its current location to the predetermined target locations stored in memory. The phone is programmed to take some predetermined action when it arrives at the predetermined location or at a predetermined distance from the target location. For example, the phone can annunciate its arrival by sounding an alarm, display a stored message on the phone""s display, or transmit the stored message to a remote station.
The phone of the present invention has many applications. For example, the user may want to be reminded when he or she arrives at a known location so that some tasks can be performed. The user can store a reminder in the phone which will be displayed when the user arrives at the target location. Also, it may be desirable in some cases to transmit a message to another party when the user arrives at the predetermined target location. For example, the user may want to notify another person when the user arrives at predetermined locations so that the other party will know that the user safely arrived. In this case, the user stores one or more predetermined locations in memory along with a corresponding arrival message. As the user arrives in each location, the corresponding arrival message is transmitted to the other party.
The present invention avoids the age-old problem of writing reminders on note pads, sticky notes, or other pieces of paper which can be lost or overlooked. Also, the present invention avoids the problem of having to stop to notify another person when the user has arrived at certain predetermined location.